Jennifer Connelly tells DuJour magazine that her husband of 11 years Paul Bettany gave her no special treatment while directing her on the set of Shelter.

Work-life balance -- or something like it! Jennifer Connelly says that, while working with her husband Paul Bettany was memorable, he gave his wife no special treatment while directing her on the NYC set of Shelter.

"It was kind of strange, going to work in the morning with the director," Connelly tells DuJour magazine in its April 2014 issue. Connelly, 43, who plays a homeless woman in Bettany's directorial debut, called the opportunity to work side-by-side with her husband, "an amazing experience to have had together."

"I had this fantasy that we'd talk about scenes all day," Connelly confesses. "In reality, if the man sat down, there was a line of people wanting to talk to him." Shelter, costarring Connelly and Anthony Mackie, tells the tale of a homeless man and woman who fall in love on the streets of NYC. Bettany also wrote the screenplay for the indie, which wrapped production last fall and hits theaters in 2014. "Since we moved so quickly, I think he felt his wife was the least of his worries," Connelly notes of her husband's lack of attention.

But there were no hard feelings. "We've been married for 11 years," she says of their relationship. "We have kids together, so I feel confident in our ability to navigate situations."

Indeed, the couple, who first met on the set of 2001 movie A Beautiful Mind, shares son Stellan, 10, daughter Agnes, 2, plus Connelly's son Kai, 16, from her previous relationship to photographer David Dugan.

How curious are Kai, Stellan, and Agnes about their famous parents? "I think they're interested in the same way all kids are interested in what their parents do, but it doesn't come up," Connelly muses. "It affords them some fun experiences. They've seen hardly any of my movies, but they've been on almost every set."

The set Connelly was probably most relieved to have wrapped was her work on the upcoming biblical epic Noah. "I had a lot of scenes that were harrowing in their subject matter. Creatively I enjoyed them, but they were the most taxing," she says of her role opposite Russell Crowe in the Darren Aronofsky-directed film. "Then there were the scenes beneath huge water towers, which were never fun," she joked. "But you can't complain. That's what you sign up for with a movie called Noah."

While Connelly shares an adventurous spirit -- whether on set or on vacation with her family -- the star admits she is not a fan of boats. "I would not want to be on a cruise ship," she reveals. "Some ferry crossings I'm not too thrilled about. But this is a very different circumstance," she says of Noah's ark. "If it's 'get on the vessel or perish with the rest of humanity,' I'd be happy to be invited aboard."